Lima, May 28 (Prensa Latina) A large majority of Peruvians believe the recent crackdown on anti-government protests has involved human rights violations and feel their fundamental rights are not being protected, according to a poll released today.
The poll by the non-governmental Institute for Peruvian Studies (IEP) found that 81 percent of respondents believe human rights abuses were involved in the repression of the protests, which killed nearly 70 people between December and March.
This perception rises to 87 percent in the south of the country, where protests have reached greater intensity, and 86 percent among the youth surveyed, while nationally only 16 percent believe there have been no human rights violations.
The government claims that these rights are being respected and, in the face of national and international reports showing otherwise, claims that this must be decided by the Public Ministry, headed by Patricia Benavides, who considers the progressive opposition vulnerable to the executive branch.
On the other hand, 71 percent say their fundamental rights are not protected at all (31) or little (40), while 72 percent say the right to protest is not protected at all (41) or little (31), and 69 percent say they are believe that freedom of expression is little (31) or not at all (38) protected.
The IEP also asked respondents about the incidents of violence and vandalism recorded during the protests, which the government and the right-wing press use to justify military and police action.
55 percent stated that the perpetrators of civil violence were a minority and 33 percent attributed this to the majority of the demonstrators.
On the other hand, the majority criticized the role of the press in the demonstrations against the rise of Dina Boluarte as the successor to President Pedro Castillo, who was ousted by Congress and has an approval rating of only six percent.
On this subject, 65 percent believe the media reported the protests in a biased manner, and only 25 percent believed this was objective.
npg/mrs